Sexual assault charges against Seadrift man dropped

Charges against a Seadrift man accused of sexually assaulting an acquaintance were dropped Wednesday.

Dolores Martinez, 50, was also released from the Calhoun County Jail after the 60-year-old woman who implicated him in the alleged crime had an apparent change of heart.

"The victim assured us she was doing this of her own free will," Criminal District Attorney Dan Heard said of her request to drop the charges, opting not to cite her reasons.

He said his office reviewed the evidence, such as statements from witnesses who had seen the two together, but not during the time of the alleged incident, and found nothing new.

"I am satisfied that there was probable cause for the police to act, though," he said of the Seadrift Police Department.

Martinez was jailed from the day of his arrest in early August while at his construction job until Wednesday. His family couldn't afford his $20,000 bond.

Martinez said he's worried about what the community may think of him now and doesn't understand why a woman he's known for four years made the accusations against him and then dropped them so suddenly.

He said he will never speak to her again.

"I am innocent," Martinez said from his sister's home Wednesday. "I didn't do anything wrong ... I lost my apartment and I lost my home."